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Tuesday, January 14, 2014

2014 Breakthrough Prizes, Terraforming, A Garden On The Moon, And Honesty

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Nerds Just Want To Have Fun

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Okay, getting back to my roots. The following are three topics will help form the platform of my blog this year, along with other Science and Sci-Fi stuff:

What To Watch: Science Channel has been named the official broadcast partner of the inaugural 2014 BREAKTHROUGH PRIZES, a one-of-a-kind global event which rewards and recognizes some of the greatest minds in the science world. Hosted by actor Kevin Spacey, and celebrities like Conan O'Brien and Mark Zuckerberg, the world’s greatest thinkers as they pay tribute to the brilliance, hard work and leadership of world-renowned scientists.

The world premiere special 2014 BREAKTHOUGH PRIZES will premiere on Science Channel on Monday, January 27 at 9 PM ET/PT.

The 2014 Breakthrough Prizes are awarded to those who make major breakthroughs (I love that word) and contributions that represent significant advances in our fundamental knowledge of the world. At the ceremony, seven prizes (six for life sciences and one for psychics) of $3 million each will be awarded for a total of $21 million.

Fun Fact: NASA Hopes To Put A Garden On The Moon. Neil Armstrong may have made a giant leap forward for mankind when he landed on the moon more than 40 years ago, but scientists at NASA's Ames Research Center in California are looking out for plantkind. The Lunar Plant Growth Habitat project is hoping to put some basil, flowers and turnips on the moon in late 2015.

In addition to the goal of an ever-so-slightly greener moon, NASA is also looking to make this an educational opportunity. The agency also has plans to send replica habitats to schools across the country so that the experiment can be repeated in the classroom. READ STORY HERE

Did You Know: Terraforming is the process of transforming a hostile environment into one suitable for human life. Once just the subject of science fiction novels, it is now becoming a viable research area. The famed astronomer and Pulitzer prize winner, Carl Sagan, says that there is enormous promise in the search for ancient life on Mars. If life was once sustainable on Mars, it is important to know what caused Mars to evolve into the cold and lifeless planet it is today. With this knowledge, we can possibly in a few decades terraform Mars by reversing the process. REFERNCE

Did You Know Part Deux: Could we terraform our moon? No. The moon is too small and therefore does not have enough gravity to hold an atmosphere necessary to terraform it.

Carrie Butler: Carrie has revealed the cover art for HONESTY. And she redesigned her blog look. She also created the badge for Wormfest 2014. Carrie is seriously talented!

Finally: If you haven’t already, take a moment to check out Monday’s post regarding my release date for Escalation and sign up for Second Annual 2014 National Wormhole Day Blogfest.